Who is Jeff Yalden?

As the most experienced advocate on youth mental health, Jeff Yalden has dedicated his life to work with school communities and mental health professionals.

It all started in July 1987 when 16-year-old Jeff and his family moved from Long Island, New York, to Hollis, New Hampshire. Shortly afterwards, he went into a deep, suicidal depression that ultimately ended with him spending two weeks at Brookside Hospital in Merrimack, New Hampshire.

On February 26, 1991, at 07:36, Jeff Yalden walked in on one of his fellow Marines with a 9mm pointed at his head. In shock, he tried to talk him out of it. Right after Jeff said, “I care about you!” the marine uttered his last words, “Maybe you’re the only one!”

Roughly 20 years later, Jeff divorced his wife of 17 years, moved south, and ended up in a hospital on the Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejuene, in North Carolina.

This was a major turning point in his life: he looked in the mirror and asked, “What did I have to do with this?” Since that moment, life has never been the same for Jeff.

Realizing that his own struggle with mental illness was more severe than he had ever admitted, he decided to get the help he needed. Now, he lives proudly with his mental illness. Through addressing his own struggle with mental Illness, he changed into a man he loves.

Diagnosed with major depression, bi-polar type 2, and PTSD, Jeff is transparent and authentic in his personal journey with self-care, therapy, and medication.

It’s his passion to share two things with his audiences of all ages:

1. It’s OK to ask for help!

2. It’s OK to be in counseling and on medication.

Since then, Jeff has become such a strong supporter of mental health and suicide prevention, advocating for a change in the stigma that surrounds mental illness and how people perceive counseling, therapy, and medication under a doctor’s care.

More importantly, Jeff practices self-care every day and has changed his life by working on himself and dealing with his mental illness. Without his own self-care, Jeff couldn’t be the inspiration he is to thousands upon thousands and the hundreds of schools and communities he has helped.

In April 2016, after speaking at a high school in Virginia on teen mental health, Jeff and his Virginia State Trooper escort were walking out when his phone rang. It was a call for help. Jeff flashed his lights at the State Trooper, and they both pulled over. A few minutes on the phone, Jeff carefully tried to get the person’s contact information, but while on the phone and while the State Trooper was with him, the phone dropped and they both heard “BANG.” Even with that tragic result, the Trooper said, “WOW! You are good. You handled that perfectly.” Unfortunately, Jeff did not save the person on the other end, but he tried his best.

Over two decades of working as a motivational speaker, Jeff has spoken to mental health organizations and school communities in all 50 states, every province in Canada, and 49 other countries.

He’s been an inspiring speaker at many Suicide Prevention Awareness, calling mental illness the greatest healthcare crisis of our time and urging people to take responsibility to do something about it.

Along with working as a motivational speaker, he works with individuals, spending hours into the wee hours of the morning speaking to families and friends that have lost loved ones to the forever decision of suicide.

He saves lives and inspires many people to reach out for help.

He’s removed guns from houses, had young people admitted on their own free will, convinced parents their kids are struggling and need help immediately, and has taught Suicide Prevention workshops to many teachers and staff members.

In order to get his message out to even more people, Jeff Yalden wrote three Amazon bestsellers, including his recent book BOOM! One Word to Inspire Action, Deliver Rewards, and Positively Affect Your Life Every Day.

Jeff was featured as a celebrity teen and family life coach on MTV’s long-running reality show, MADE, and has appeared in numerous print, radio, and television interviews nationwide.